Radha Poonoosamy
# Radha Poonoosamy

Radha Poonoosamy (Tamil: ராதா பொன்னுசாமி படையாச்சி) (née Padayachee, 18 September 1924 – January 2008), was a Mauritian politician, the country's first female cabinet minister, and a feminist activist.

She was born Radha Padayachee on 18 September 1924 in Durban, South Africa. She was born into a family of Indian ancestry.

She was educated at the University of Natal, where she was an "outspoken opponent of apartheid", and became a member of the Student Council of the Indian National Congress, which fought against anti-Indian discrimination in South Africa. She went on to become head of the women's section, and also a member of the executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC).

She married the physician Dr. Valaydon Poonoosamy, and they settled in Mauritius in 1952. She became a naturalized citizen, and continued her activism there within Mauritius's Labour Party.

In 1975, Poonoosamy was elected a Member of Parliament, becoming the country's first female minister, the inaugural minister in charge of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and helped pass laws against sex discrimination.

